3. Stocktake of local authority policies and practice in relation to LGBT people in Scotland
This guidance has been produced as a result of research commissioned by the Scottish Executive, and carried out during 2005 by ODS, a Glasgow based consultancy firm.
Some of the findings from a questionnaire sent to all Scottish local authorities (and completed by all 32 authorities) are:
- All 32 Councils have an equality policy; nine of which refer to sexual orientation - one has a separate LGBT policy
- LGBT issues are not often clearly stated in council equality policies
- Three councils monitor the effectiveness of their polices for LGBT people
- Every council said they had insufficient information about LGBT people in their areas
- 30 councils referred to sexual orientation in some way in employment policies
- One council monitored the sexual orientation of its workforce and no others indicated that they would follow this practice in the near future
- Ten social work departments referred to sexual orientation in their strategies and one has a separate LGBT action plan
- Five education departments refer to sexual orientation in their anti-bullying policies
- Six housing departments refer to sexual orientation in their housing strategies
- Six councils said they provided capacity building support to LGBT groups
- Asked to rank the priority given to the six equality themes, sexual orientation was ranked sixth highest (Disability was highest).
Some of the findings from the interviews with councillors, officers and LGBT organisations in eight 'case study' local authority areas are:
- Councils said that LGBT people had a 'low visibility' and tendency not to seek help from the council
- Councils lack basic information about LGBT people in their areas
- Equality legislation focuses efforts on other equalities groups rather than on LGBT issues
- There is a less developed legislative framework in relation to sexual orientation than for some other equalities themes and many councils stated that they did not prioritise their efforts in the same way as they do for race or disability
- Some councils stated that they lacked resources to develop LGBT policies
- Training and awareness raising has been patchy and councils were making slow progress on providing specific LGBT training
- LGBT issues were frequently not included in key plans and strategies for example in community plans
- Councils were unsure about how to approach monitoring sexual orientation in the workplace and what its purpose was
- Employment polices in relation to sexual orientation were less well developed than for race or disability
- In general there was limited progress in monitoring the effectiveness or impact of any LGBT policies
- Councils recognised that they had been more effective in progressing other equality issues
- LGBT groups have a had a varied range of experiences with councils and most identified that the councils had taken some positive steps - it was considered that progress was slow and LGBT people felt they were low on the councils' priorities
- Councils should be prepared to act on the findings from LGBT consultations - action plans need to be followed up with actions
- There are inconsistencies of service provision for LGBT people within individual councils and between different councils
- Councils often failed to capitalise on the positive images of LGBT people and events.